Mercy's Reason
by bladesandbaits2
Summary: Why Mercy, one of Apollyon's most loyal soldiers, joined the Warden in rebellion.
1. The Child

**This is my first fanfic, so please be patient with me.**

 **I do not own For Honor.**

(Author Input)

' _Thoughts_ '

"Talking"

 **Mercy's Reason**

It was another cold night in the land of Valkenheim, and the Blackstone Legion had taken yet another Viking stronghold. Any and all "sheep" had been executed and all "wolves" had been sent into the dark, cold woods with the bare necessities per the order of their Warlord, Apollyon. Apollyon had ordered the troops to make camp for the night in the ruins of the stronghold. A distance away from where the other Blackstone knights were setting up camp stood a lone Peacekeeper, Mercy was her name. It wasn't unusual for her to be seen away from the other knights, standing guard, awaiting the next order from her master.

 _'Like a loyal soldier'_ she thought.

"Mind if I join you?" a voice off to the side asked.

Mercy turned her head to see The Warden(He looks like the 3rd male armor set that you choose from in story mode) approaching from the other soldiers.

"Do as you please." she replied in a monotone voice.

He walked up to her side and stood there with his long sword in his hands, blade digging into the ground.

They stood their in silence for a while until the Warden finally broke the quiet .

"How long has the war been going on for now."

 _'That's an odd question.'_ Mercy thought, but kept quiet.

"5-6 years?" he inquired "It's hard to keep track after all. There's been so much fighting, so much bloodshed."

Mercy's silence remained.

"Some of the men are tired of fighting, thinking about abandoning their posts." The Warden continued on.

This was no shock. For months there had been talk of abandonment of the Blackstone Legion and even rebellion. Mercy had even heard rumors at some point, that there was someone inside the Blackstone Legion trying to restart the fallen Iron Legion, and that's all she chose to believe them to be. Rumors.

 _"They should be grateful Master Apollyon let them join!"_ she growled out in fury.

If the Warden was fazed by Mercy's rare outburst of emotion, he didn't show it. He sighed and placed his long sword on the ground and sat next to it."Did she let them join, or did she force them to?"

Confusion was on Mercy's face behind her mask.

This led the Warden to continue "When I first met Apollyon, Stone and I were pinned with the wall to our backs and traitor Iron Legion soldiers at our front. I was exhausted and Stone was wounded, and it seemed like the end. Then Apollyon appeared, she single handedly killed two Captains, two Wardens, a Peacekeeper, and a Conqueror. When the fighting was done she rounded up all that was left and made a speech, asking if they were 'wolves' or 'sheep'. A single Captain and Soldier tried to attack her then with daggers. She and another Captain disarmed them easily, and do you know what she did then?" he asked.

Mercy shook her head, and the Warden took a deep breath,"She killed every other enemy soldier without mercy, without remorse, without **_honor._** " he growled out the last word as the anger in him began to rise."'Welcome to the Blackstone Legion.' She said, as if they had not tried to kill her seconds before. You tell me, at that moment, do you think they had a choice in the matter of whether or not they joined?"

Mercy had remained silent.

"Do you think that Apollyon will stop at enemy forces when it comes to 'sheep' and 'wolves', or will she continue to families? Women and children?"

Mercy was still silent.

The Warden just sighed and stood up. "Eventually these questions will be answered if we let them be, and I for one am not so sure I'm going to like them."

With that the Warden left to return to the camp. Leaving Mercy to ponder her thoughts.

* * *

Another Viking village had been conquered. The Blackstone forces had made short work of any and all Vikings defending the village, and a few of the troops were ordered to sweep the village for any survivors. Mercy had been one of those troops. She was walking down checking each hut thoroughly before moving on to the next. She was searching her sixth hut when she heard what sounded like someone sobbing gently.

Mercy turned a corner and found a crying child no older than six clutching the hand of a bleeding out Valkyrie, sitting on the floor leaning her back back against the wall.

The child sniffled a little before speaking.

 _"Vennligst ikke do, mamma. Jeg trenger deg. (Please don't die, Mommy. I need you)"_ he begged. The Valkyrie raised her other hand and stroked her son's cheek.

 _"Vaer modig, mitt barn, jeg skal til et bedre sted. (Be brave my child, I am going to a better place.)"_ she coughed out.

 _"Men jeg vil at du skal bli her hos meg! (But I want you to stay here with me!)"_ the child argued back.

Neither of them seemed to notice Mercy, and she had no intention of interrupting.

 _"Jeg ma ga na, Valhalla ringer til meg. Vet at jeg alltid elsker deg. (I must go now, Valhalla calls to me. Know that I always love you)"_ The last part was barely a whisper as her head went limp.

 _"Nei nei! Ikke ga... (No, No! Don't go...)"_ he trailed off. It was only then with his mother dead, that he noticed the other person in the room. His face held a fearful expression as he backed away from Mercy.

 _"_ _M-Monster, kom deg unna!_ _(M-Monster, get away!)"_ This caused Mercy to pause. She had educated herself to understand the languages of both Samurai and Vikings in the event that she overheard important intel while on one of her missions.

 _'Monster? What does he mean?'_ she questioned herself. Then realization hit her like a ton of bricks.' _My Mask, he's scared of my mask._ '

Mercy quickly pulled down her hood and unstrapped her helmet. Dark brown eyes came into view, along with raven black hair done up in a bun as she lowered her helmet to the ground.

 _"Det er greit, jeg kommer ikke til a skade deg. (It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you.)"_

She cautiously approached, not wanting to startle the boy. When she was close enough, she kneeled down to his level and wrapped her arms around him, surprising them both. The stress of losing his mother and his village was too much for him and he broke down into tears.

Mercy rubbed his back soothingly, trying her best to calm him down _"Shh, shh. Det blir alt i orden. (Shh, shh. It will all be alright.)"_

"Mercy, where are you?"

Her head shot up in suprise, hearing the voice of one of the Blackstone troops come from outside the hut. Mercy saw the child begin to panic and made a quick decision.

 _"Bo her, jeg skal handtere dem. (Stay here, I'll deal with them.)"_ Mercy stood up, put on her helmet, and went outside to confront the soldiers.

"Ah, there you are. Come, Lord Apollyon is calling us back to leave." one of the captains stated.

"I'll return soon, there are still huts for me to search." she stated in her usual monotone voice.

The captains did not seem to question this. "Very well, have it your way."

As soon as Mercy was sure the captains were out of sight and earshot, she turned her head towards the hut she came from. _"Det er trygt na, du kan komme ut na.(It's safe now, you can come out now.)"_

The six year old boy darted towards Mercy, wrapping his arms around her legs. Mercy just awkwardly patted his head.

 _"Vennligst ikke la meg vaere alene. (Please don't leave me alone.)"_ he pleaded.

"Well, isn't this a sight." a voice said from behind, making both turn around in suprise.

There stood the Warden and Stone. Mercy pushed the boy behind her, ready for a fight. To her surprise, the Warden just put his hand up and signaled for her to wait.

"First off we're not going to tell anyone about this," he stated "Secondly, what would you do if I said that hundreds, maybe even thousands of children were being forced into labor camps per Apollyon's orders, that they were forced to have unspeakable horrors done to them, and that the only way to save them was to go against the Blackstone Legion, to go against Apollyon herself?" he questioned.

Mercy looked down and stared at the child she had risked her life for. It took her all of 3 seconds to make her decision. She looked back up at the Warden with determination in her eyes.

She knew what she had to do.

* * *

 **Woooooooooooohhhooooooooooooooooo! First story done, let me know what you guys think by leaving a review. I WILL NOT SUBMIT TO FLAMERS, VIVE LA RESISTANCE B*TCHES!**


	2. Cain

**This is my first fanfic, so please be patient with me.**

 **Second chapter, I'm pumped. LET'S DO THIS! Btw, I am only doing different languages when there are members of two different factions present in the same conversation. When two of the same faction are talking to each other, I will write in plain English.**

 **I do not own For Honor.**

(Author Input)

 _'Thoughts'_

"Talking"

 **Mercy's Reason**

It had been a few days since that fateful night in the Viking village, and Mercy had no idea what to do with the child now in her care. The army was returning back to Castle Blackstone in Ashfeld, due to Apollyon saying that their work had been done. She remembered when Apollyon had first found out about the boy.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _When Mercy, Stone, and the Warden returned to the camp with the six-year-old, Apollyon had immediately questioned the three knights about the boy. To Mercy's surprise, the Warden had crafted a tale of the boy managing to kill two soldiers on his own with a knife. Stone backed him up, saying the child would be a great asset to the legion if trained properly. Apollyon seemed to accept that answer and rode off on her horse to the front of the army. It was then Mercy realized something._

"Hva heter du, ung en? (What is your name, young one?)" _she asked her young companion._

"S-Stelgon." _the now named boy answered nervously._

"Jeg heter Mercy, det er en glede å møte deg. (My name is Mercy, it's a pleasure to meet you.)" _Mercy said in a friendly tone. Well, as friendly as a usually emotionless assassin could be._

 _Stelgon was silent for a few seconds before looking up at Mercy and asked_ "Hvorfor hjalp du meg? (Why did you help me?)"

 _End Flashback_

* * *

Mercy never did answer that question. Mostly because she was wondering herself. Whenever she saw the boy, she felt some connection to the boy. Maybe it was because they were alone In the world. Both had lost their loved ones. Bandits killed her parents when she was a child, and the same thing happened to Stelgon with Blackstone troops invading his village. Mercy was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a tug on her hand and looked down to see Stelgon barely able to keep his eyes open.

 _"Jeg er trøtt. (I'm tired.)"_ he whined.

That was no surprise, they had been walking for an entire day. Mercy was honestly surprised that the boy hadn't passed out yet.

 _"Kan du ikke gå litt lenger? (Can't you go a little longer?)"_ Mercy pleaded. She was afraid that if Apollyon saw any weakness in Stelgon, it would spell the end of him.

Stelgon just pouted and looked ahead. Fortunately for them, orders to make camp came soon after.

* * *

 _At camp_

A skittish Stelgon stood outside a tent while Mercy was inside, preparing their respective sleeping quarters. Blackstone troops passing by sent him sneers, glares, and sometimes a weird combination of the two. Needless to say, Stelgon was scared beyond belief.

 _"Bene, bene, bene, at quod habes hic ad collum primus barbatum! (Well, well, well, look at what we have here, a neck beard brat!)"_ a voice behind Stelgon said. A hand shot out and grabbed him by the hair, pulling his head back.

Stelgon followed the hand to a muscular arm, and then to a Conqueror that was flanked by two Captains. Stegon's face was then roughly grabbed by the Conqueror's other hand. He slowly turned Stelgon's face, examining every inch of it.

 _"Malus autem etiamsi non quaeritis, (Not a bad looking one though,)"_ he stated before his mouth turned into a sick, twisted grin. _"Non potui vobis aliquam delectationem. (I could get some enjoyment from you.)"_

Stelgon didn't know what the Conqueror said, though he was terrified.

 _"Cain!"_ someone shouted before the Conqueror could continue.

The Warden walked towards them, longsword in hand, and Stone not far behind. The now named Cain let go of Stelgon, taking several steps away from him.

 _"Quid putas facitis Cain? (What do you think you are doing, Cain?)"_ the Warden questioned stepping in between Stelgon and Cain.

 _"Sicut ludens in circuitu eum, et forti, o custos. (Just joking around with him, oh so mighty Warden.)"_ Cain said maliciously.

 _"Nos omnes scimus quod genus libet iocari, consurrexit Cain. Praesertim puerorum. (We all know what kind of joking you like, Cain. Especially with children.)"_ Stone said disgusted.

Cain growled in anger. It looked like a fight was going to break out. The Warden and Stone readied their longsword and mace respectively while Cain and his Captains did the same.

 _"Quod suus 'iens exire in hic. (What's going on out here?)"_ Mercy asked, having heard the commotion outside the tent. She came out to find the Warden and Stone standing in front of her tent, Stelgon behind them. All her questions were answered when she saw who the Warden and Stone were facing against.

 _"Cain."_ She said monotonously.

Mercy knew that Conquerors were once criminals before the war began, and she knew just how horrendous Cain's crimes were. Everyone knew. He was one of the worst of the worst in Apollyon's army. Mercy pulled Stelgon behind her incase an actual fight broke out.

 _"Nihil nos erant iustus relinquens. (Nothing, we were just leaving.)"_ Cain said. He wasn't an idiot. Cain knew that if a fight broke out, he, with only two Captains backing him, wouldn't be able to win against a Warden, Peacekeeper, and Conqueror all at once.

And with that, they left. Mercy checked of Stelgon over, seeing if Cain did any permanent damage. Stone and the Warden chuckled silently as Mercy looked over the boy like a worried mother.

Not seeing anything wrong, Mercy looked down at the frightened boy and asked _"Er du ok? (Are you okay?)"_

Stelgon just nodded, too shocked to answer.

Mercy accepted this, and began to lead him into the tent.

 _"Kom, det er tid for senga. (Come, it's time for bed.)"_

* * *

 **Oh, man I feel disgusting just writing about Cain, don't worry I'm going to bump up the rating because of him. Hope this is a good chapter. Leave a review and give some suggestions if you feel like it, or not. I don't care either way.**


	3. The Meeting

**This is my first fanfic, so please be patient with me.**

 **Don't really have much to say this time. Oh, do you guys think I should pair Mercy with the Warden? Yes? No? Maybe? Banana?**

 **I do not own For Honor.**

(Author Input)

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

 **Mercy's Reason**

It was late at night, and Mercy laid awake in her tent unable to sleep. Stelgon was laying across from her, deep in sleep. After the Cain incident, the Warden and Stone said they would take turns standing guard to make sure he didn't come back. That didn't comfort her though for she knew that they couldn't protect him forever.

' _Doesn't mean I won't try._ ' She thought in determination.

Her thoughts were broken when she heard the flap to her tent open and saw Stone kneeling at the entrance.

"Warden's holding a meeting with the others, wants you to come." He whispered, not wanting to wake the slumbering child.

"What about Stelgon?" she questioned. Mercy was afraid of what would happen if she returned and he was gone.

"I'm staying here with him. Don't worry, I know enough _Norsk_ to tell him you'll be back."

Mercy was about to reject, but decided to go. The Warden supported her and Stelgon. It was time for her to do the same. She followed Stone out of the tent before looking back at the child in her care.

"Protect him Stone, or you won't even notice your own death." Mercy threatened.

Stone nodded, unfazed by the threat.

"I'll look after him as if he were my own." He said.

With that taken care of, Mercy asked where the meeting was being held.

"Follow the trail and a scout will lead you the rest of the way."

With that, Mercy was gone.

* * *

She had been on the trail about 10 minutes when she saw the scout.

"You're Mercy, right?" He received a nod.

"Follow me, we've been waiting for you." He said as he began to trek through the woods.

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a clearing. The scout stopped Mercy before putting his fingers in his mouth and whistled. About 60 troops then came out of the tree-line surrounding the clearing, converging towards them. Mercy gazed upon each person, recognizing a few, before stopping at a large knight with heavy armor and pole axe.

"Holden?!" Mercy exclaimed, surprised to see Apollyon's second in command attending a rebel meeting.

"Mercy, how nice of you to join us." Holden said pleased.

They conversed for a bit before all the knights in the area became silent.

"What's with them?" Mercy asked Holden.

Holden nodded his head towards the direction everyone was facing. There, standing on a small cliff, was the Warden with his helmet tucked underneath his arm. He was a fairly handsome man; his hair was a dark brown and his eyes a forest green. The Warden also had a long scar running diagonally from the top of his right eye to the end of his left cheek. On either side of him were two Wardens, standing as guards.

"My brothers and sisters in steel, this war has lasted six long years, and for six long years, innocent blood has been shed because of Apollyon!" He shouted, receiving shouts of agreement from the crowd.

"We had a chance at peace once, but because of Apollyon, we may have another 100 years of war! I say no to that! I took an oath to uphold peace when I became a Warden, and if that means going against Apollyon, then so be it. I come to you on this night to ask for your assistance in ending this war, but unlike Apollyon I will not make you. If you wish to leave now, no one will judge you."

Not a single knight moved from their spot. Mercy could barely see the Warden's mouth turn upwards from where she stood. When he nodded, the two Wardens guarding him walked away from the edge of the cliff, out of sight. When they came back, they appeared to be holding a large rolled up cloth in between them. The Wardens walked to the edge of the cliff and unrolled the cloth, revealing it to be an old Iron Legion Banner flag.

"From this day forth, the Iron Legion is no longer extinct. From this day forth, Apollyon's days are numbered. From this day forth, WE WILL END THIS WAR!" The Warden shouted.

Cheers erupted from the crowd. Mercy never heard the Warden speak with such conviction and heart. The Warden left the cliffside and joined the group on the ground. As the Warden walked through the crowd, thanking people for coming, he noticed Mercy walking towards him.

"Thank you for coming Mercy, I know it must have been hard leaving Stelgon alone." He said when she reached him.

"Don't worry, I made sure that Stone wouldn't let anything happen to him." She said. The Warden chuckled.

"Did that include threatening his life?"

"So, is this all that there is of the return of the Iron Legion?" Mercy said, trying to change the subject.

The Warden let out a laugh, and then responded.

"No, there are many, many more who will join us when we get to Ashfeld."

"That was quite a speech you made. Did you practice it." Mercy asked, sitting on a nearby rock.

"No, I just spoke from the heart. It isn't really hard to do if you listen to it." He said, sitting next to her. They sat in silence, watching knights passing by.

"Do you think we can actually do this? Do you think we can beat Apollyon?"

The Warden sighed and held his helmet in both hands, looking down at it.

"I honestly don't know, Mercy. We'll just have to wait and see."

"I hope the risk is worth it, Warden." She said.

"Samuel, my name is Samuel."

They continued to converse for the rest of their time there.

* * *

Stelgon woke up to find himself alone in the tent. It was still nighttime, and Stelgon was worried. What happen to Mercy? Did the big, mean man get her? Stelgon began running, getting a few feet out of the entrance before feeling a strong pull backwards.

" _Woah non modica. Quo proripit ille? (Woah there, little one. Where are you running to?)_ " A man's voice said behind him.

Stelgon turned his head to see one of the nice men that helped him holding on to the back of his shirt.

" _Slipp meg! Barmhjertighet mangler! (Let go of me! Mercy is missing!)_ " he shouted. Stone was silent for a few seconds before finally responding.

" _Uh, ikke bekymre deg. Barmhjertighet fint. Hun sier at hun er snart tilbake. (Uh, don't worry. Mercy fine. She say she be back soon.)_ " Stone said, struggling with speaking the boy's language.

Stelgon relaxed at this, and thought of something.

" _Hva heter du? (What's your name?)_ " he asked, tilting his head to the side.

The big knight chuckled. "Stone." He said.

" _Det er et merkelig navn. Du er rar. (That's a weird name. Your weird.)_ " Stelgon said bluntly.

Stone's chuckling turned into full blown laughter.

" _Kid, jeg har en følelse av at du og jeg kommer til å komme sammen helt fint. (Kid, I have a feeling you and me are going to get along just fine.)_ " he said, finally catching his breath.

" _Per Dominum nostrum, ut spero, non. (By our Lord, I hope not.)_ " a voice from a distance said.

Both looked to see Mercy walking alongside Samuel towards them. Stelgon ran towards them, tackling Mercy into a hug. Mercy wrapped her arms around him and looked down to see dark brown eyes staring right back at her.

" _Du er tilbake! Jeg trodde at mannen kom og tok deg. Da sa Mr. Stone at du ville være tilbake, så jeg burde ikke bekymre meg for det. (You're back! I thought the mean man came and took you. Then Mr. Stone said you would be back, so I shouldn't worry about it.)_ " He said quickly.

Mercy looked towards the other two for help, but became quickly became annoyed when she saw Samuel and Stone barely able to contain their laughter. She looked down at Stelgon and ruffled his hair, getting him to atop talking

" _Nå nå. Nok av det, du må gå tilbake til sengs. (Now, now. Enough of that, you need to get back to bed.)_ " She said, causing the boy to start whining.

Mercy led Stelgon back to their tent. They had a big day tomorrow.

* * *

They had come across another destroyed Viking village, this one more recent than the last. This village was more important to their leader than the others for some reason. Most of them didn't know why, though the three that did were standing outside one of the village's huts.

The first person was a large, muscular man. He wore a metal helm with horns on the sides, though one was broken off. He had no chest armor of any kind on, and his bottom half had bones hanging from his waist. In his hand he held a Dane axe, the weapon of the Raider.

The next was a female. Her helm held wings on each side, and had leather chest armor. Her right arm was wrapped in a metal bracer with the top half of a goat's skull tied to it. In the same arm, she held a spear, and in her left, a shield.

The final person was male. He had no helm, only a metal eye mask. Leather armor covered his chest and shoulders. His beard covered most of his face. He had his hair in dreadlocks, with no real control as to where they swung. His weapons of choice were twin axes, one in each hand. He twirled one of them occasionally, showing impatience.

They were all silent, waiting for information from their chief. They had been waiting 10 minutes for their chief to come out of the hut, and they were starting to worry. The sound of the door opening reached their ears as they saw their chief coming out with a dead Valkyrie in his arms.

Their chief was a large man, with leather armor covering his entire body. On his head laid a polar bear pelt and a sword and shield were tied to his back. He broke down in tears as he reached the three, collapsing to his knees and placing the body gently on the ground.

"Stigandr, I'm so sorry." The female said, placing her hand on his shoulder. Stigandr shook off the hand, sadness being replaced by anger.

"Pity is for the weak, Runa. Save it for our enemies." He growled out.

"Is he…" the man with two axes trailed off, not wanting to finish the question.

"No, Helvar. I couldn't find him anywhere." The chieftain answered, not even looking up at him.

"We can keep looking, there is still the mines and work camps. Apollyon always sends the children to one or the other." The Viking with the dane axe said.

Stigandr's eyes lit up in hope for a split second, and then into determination. "Maybe your right, Raider. Either way, Blackstone blood will be shed in payment for what they did to us."

He stood up and wiped the tears from his eyes. Only one thought came to his mind.

' _Don't worry sister. I will avenge you and Stelgon, or meet you in Valhalla trying._ '

* * *

 **Well, the Iron Legion has returned, and the Vikings have another reason to want the Blackstones dead. Also, I realized that the Vikings in For Honor speak Icelandic, not Norwegian. Do you guys want me to fix that or do you not care? Remember to vote on whether or not you want Mercy and Samuel should be paired.**

 **Edit: Thank you Bruva Boreale for telling me the mistake I made with Stigandr's name.**


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